English producer Ott Blumenkraft may be known for his work with the likes of Sinéad O'Connor, The Orb and Brian Eno, but it has been his new live-instrumentation collaborative show that's really been turning heads these days. Famous for his elegant, ambient, psychedelic-trance productions, the Twisted Records star will return to Humboldt County for a performance at the Arcata Theatre Lounge on Saturday night as Ott. and the All-Seeing I. Hoping not to faint on stage like he did at his last performance in Eureka, Blumenkraft's group features himself (electronics), Naked Nick (vocals/guitar/synths/percussion), Chris Barker (bass) and Matt White (drums) -- three of whom are playing together again after a 22-year break.

Philadelphia glitch producer KiloWatts opens, and happy-hour food and beverage prices will be offered at the Arcata Theatre Lounge from 9:30 to 10:30 p.m. Saturday. Advance passes are available at People's Records, DTA, Wildberries Marketplace, The Works and online at worldfamous.inticketing.com.

Q: Please tell me a bit about your All-Seeing I band. To you -- besides the fact that it's live instrumentation -- what differences stand out the most when comparing your solo compositions to your All-Seeing I stuff? I realize that a lot of it is renditions of your solo material...

A: For me the band has been a major exercise in letting go, handing over my drums, bass, vocals and guitars to other people and becoming one of a team instead of master of my own universe. I'm still a control freak, but I'm also very fortunate to have been able to call on people I know well, trust completely and like a lot because forming a band from scratch would have been very difficult and not nearly so much fun. Touring alone is efficient, straightforward and simple. Touring with a band is like sleeping in a box, burning $100 bills and laughing hysterically while you do it.

Q: How did you come to know and recruit Naked Nick, Chris Barker and Matt White?

A: Chris, Matt and I played in our very first band together, way back in the 1980s, although we lost contact when that band split in about 1990. We made contact again in recent years and during our first meet-up, over dinner, I had the idea of asking them to join me on tour. Amazingly they agreed and here we are. Fortunately for me, in the intervening years they went away and turned into world-class musicians. Nick I met in 2003 at Buddhafield Festival in Dorset, England and we have been great friends ever since. He's always been the first person I call for guitar parts and vocals on my tunes and he's also godfather to my daughter. His job is slightly odd in that all of his parts on the records are quite heavily processed so when it came to recreating them live we had to jump through all kinds of technical hoops to make it work. He ended up having to relearn the parts he created and then adapt to performing them live through layers of arcane technology. It's remarkable that it works at all, but it's very effective.

Q: Will you be releasing an LP as Ott and the All-Seeing I?

A: Yes. The plan is to finish building my studio as soon as this tour is over and then we're going to lock ourselves in with some microphones and a bunch of computers and see what comes out the other end. We haven't played a note yet, but I'm confident that we'll come up with something which pleases us and hopefully a few others too. The thought of starting is very exciting but first we have to construct a lounge, kitchen and toilet in the remaining 500 square feet of my studio building.

Q: What inspired you when it came to deciding to undertake a live-instrumentation tour?

A: It seemed like the obvious next step after touring solo in the U.S. for five years. Meeting my old bandmates was a deciding factor too -- the idea of getting back together after 22 years was too wacky to resist.

Q: What's your history like with Simon Posford (Hallucinogen/Shpongle) and how did you end up collaborating with him?

A: We met at Butterfly Studios in London during the 1990s while I was their house engineer. Simon was recording for Dragonfly Records which was the Butterfly in-house psy-trance label. Studio and label owner (Martin) "Youth" (Glover, Killing Joke bassist) had us work together on one or two of his projects and we became friends. We also happened to live quite close to each other and would meet for breakfast in a local cafe a couple of times a week. We've known each other for around 17 years now and although we don't see as much of each other as we used to, it's always a pleasure to see him and all of the Twisted crew. They're a great family and massive fun to hang out with.

Q: What about (U2 and Coldplay producer) Brian Eno?

A: While working with Youth and Simon on the Celtic Cross project, I met their guitarist, Saul Davies, who also played in James. They were in a studio to record a single when their engineer-producer suddenly bailed out of the session at 10:30 one Monday morning. With a studio booked and nobody to record them they gave me a call and invited me to produce their single which I did. We got on great and did good work so when it came time to record their next album -- with Eno producing -- later in the year, they invited me along. It was a fascinating insight into his working method and a very memorable experience. The main thing I learned is that he's just a normal guy who enjoys making art and who works harder than everyone else in the room. Apart from the engineer he was the first into the studio every morning and the last to leave every night.

Q: What song have you most enjoyed performing live lately?

A: "Owl Stretching Time" is massive fun because it's just a stupid stomping rhythm overlaid with hooting owls and gloopy analogue synths. Chris spent a lot of time researching how to recreate my synth bass lines on a bass guitar and in "Owl Stretching Time" he really nails it. Matt enjoys playing it too and it shows in how he attacks it and Nick invented a brilliant guitar part which isn't on the record but which I wish was.

Q: What are you most excited about when it comes to the next few months?

A: Making the Ott & The All-Seeing I record. And building the studio toilet.

Q: Is there anything else you'd like your Humboldt County fans to know before the show?

A: I always love the drive up the 101 from San Francisco to Arcata, through the redwood forests and then opening out into Humboldt Bay. It feels like the weirdest most beautiful place on Earth. I always stay in a cabin overlooking the ocean when I visit and it's always a very welcome respite from the endless airports, strip malls and chain hotels that form the majority of my U.S. traveling experiences... I'm sorry I fainted and fell off the stage during "Splitting An Atom" when I played the Red Fox Tavern in about 2010. I was as surprised as you. Much love, see you soon.